International studio (16.1902)

IV. H. Bidlake

spent in wandering round the chosen site and
absorbing its spirit is the best initial step to its
conception. This thorough entry into the spirit
of his building is perhaps one of the chief factors
of Mr. Bidlake’s success; and although in some of
his advice, such as a claim for the careful considera-
tion of the “sky-line,” he soars above traditions,
who will question that the flight is in the right
direction ?
“ Hospitality,” or the house in relation to the
outside world, is his third lamp.
In the arrangement of its parts the house should
group well from all points ; and the entrance, for
preference, should lie at one end of it. For, in
this, as well as in a certain spaciousness apparent
on entering, lies the first expression of that
hospitality which should be a quality of the house
A hall which is more than a narrow passage is an
essential; and so, too, is the hall fireplace which,
with its cheerful fire on a December afternoon,
helps to symbolise the expression of a hearty
welcome.
Many who consider it necessary to have a fire-
place in the hall fail to recognise the desirability of
putting a fire into it, counting it in the same cate-
gory as the rusty ancestral armour purchased at the

bric-a-brac shop,—as nothing more, in fact, than a
piece of decoration.
Mr. Bidlake dislikes all narrow passages, his
opinion being that a four-feet way from place to
place, fashioned with no loftier object in view than
the convenient passage of the dinner-tray, makes for
gloom and depression. A wide passage, where
room may be found for the settle or oak chest,
and where an odd half-hour may be whiled
away, adds enormously to the general enjoyment
and attractiveness of the house ; and it is much
more expressive of welcome and comfort than a
home in which warmth and repose are centred in
one or two rooms, and the rest of the house is as
a foreign land to the guest and the owner alike.
These opinions may, perhaps, rank among the
commonplaces of precept; but, held and practised
by a man of the ability and devotion to his art of
Mr. Bidlake, their value becomes proportionately
greater.
A man of high ideals in the wider paths of his
profession, and with the greater part of his life’s
work still before him, Mr. Bidlake will doubtless
achieve greater things, and, in achieving them,
will continue to show the way to others.
A. S. AVainwright.